BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC—Two weeks after the state-owned Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved a BDZ$250 million (One Belize dollar = US$0.49 cents) investment grant in education and energy in Belize, debate has started in the Parliament regarding the establishment of the Millenium Challenge Account Belize Authority, which will be the implementing agency for the education and energy projects.
The MCC said its priority is to reduce poverty through sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The government is expected to sign the agreement in September.
During a unique siting of the Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister John Briceño said that a government and civil society board of directors will lead the Millenium Challenge Account Belize Authority.
He said that the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) will have representation on the board.
“The MCC Belize Authority will serve as the implementing agency for education and energy projects on behalf of the government of Belize. We expect to sign the compact agreement in early September, so we must get this bill to ensure we get the implementing agency when signing.”
Briceño said the BDZ$250 million, the compact development funding, and government country contributions will be directed through this authority to fund the projects. “Given that the authority’s focus will be on education and energy, we have agreed with MCC that the authority’s board will not only include government members. It will also include representatives relevant to the projects.”
Briceño said the BTNU represents teachers in education as well as the BCCI. Representing the private sector will have representation on the board.
“Given that the bulk of the funding will be education, we have also provided for a representative from civil society relevant to education as well as a non-voting member representing academic and educational organizations.”
In his contribution to the debate, Education Minister Francis Fonseca highlighted several challenges in the education sector and noted that significant investments will be made to improve the sector for young men, women, and teachers across the country.
Fonseca also noted that he does not believe the opposition needs to have a seat on the board.
“One of our challenges is keeping males in schools and keeping them there. There will be targeted programs for male young men to ensure they go into secondary school and complete secondary school at a minimum, and while they are there, they will be equipped with the skills to participate effectively in the national development of Belize and the labor market.
“One of the challenges we have with young women, as you know, is a very positive development, in that we have a lot more females attending school going to school, going to tertiary education, so we have a lot more educated women in our society, absolutely important,”
The Education Minister said that this is a reversal of what used to happen fifty years ago, noting, “But we find that even though the young women are better trained and educated, they are not getting jobs in the job market that meet their training and education skills.
“So how do we ensure we are improving women’s workforce participation in our society? One of the components is developing a quality assurance system and capacity building of education leadership and teachers. We have to keep improving and enhancing the capacity of our education leaders and teachers, providing teaching and learning resources,” he added.
Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow said it is a moment of bipartisanship in Parliament because investments are needed in both priority sectors.
But he chided the Briceño administration for not including the opposition on the MCC Account Belize Authority’s board of directors.
“One of the primary concerns as I rose, I said I join with the prime minister. This is a moment of bipartisanship. We need this money. We need this investment for education and energy. But if you listen to the prime minister earlier, it is typical old-school politicking. He threw the opposition under the bus,” Barrow said.
“Now you look at the composition of the board…there is no seat for the opposition. This is an affront to continuity, to transparency, an affront to good governance, the inclusion of the opposition, the top stakeholder of all the stakeholders has to be the opposition,” Barrow said, adding, “We are the government in waiting.”
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